


Strength

by ChloeWinchester



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Torture, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 04:34:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3923083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeWinchester/pseuds/ChloeWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumplestiltskin is comatose, lost in the confines of his mind unsure of what version of himself he might be when he wakes. And Belle, vigilant at his side tries everything she can to bring her husband back to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strength

The Dark One was gone. In this muddled, starry black world he found himself floating in, he understood that.

The blackness that had weighed him down, wrapped in his bones like tar and burned and squeezed and ached until he succumbed to its wants had simply vanished. His charred insides, the flesh and muscles grown so callused to its presence was simply gone. And he was reeling for it. His head pounded trying to figure out why he felt so barren.

Alone in his body, in his mind, that wasn’t something he was used to. It frightened him, lost in this foggy wet black that clung to his skin and twisted him all around so he remained lost.

The manic man with the rampant giggle and thirst for blood. The black eyes that sought out tender, vulnerable flesh and tore it apart with ragged teeth and clawing nails. The gold, gritty stone of his skin, the time spent undressing and looking anywhere but himself, the thundering, pounding want to do more.

_Get more. Have more. Have the spellbook, now we need the wand. Kill her, kill the wife, watch her die, look what she did to you, Coward, crush. Her. Heart. Won’t it be so good for your son to know you did something brave? You took back what’s yours, didn’t you?! Kill her, kill her, yes…_

The creature who was afraid of the soft little dove he’d brought home with him. The gentle smiles and the kind blue eyes. Her tresses of curls that reminded him of safety, her lack of hesitation to touch his rough flesh. It was terrified of that precious girl.

_Coward, don’t think about her. She won’t want you. Filthy, nasty, unworthy little worm. Look at you. Take a long look at you, and then look at the beauty of the girl. What would she ever want with you? Do you think she loves you? YOU?! Ha! Pathetic little man. She shows you some attention, some pity and you think she loves you. You weak little nothing how could that woman, that beautiful, pure creature love you? Come now, let’s tear her apart. Let’s tear into that ivory skin and watch all the blood run out. Let’s make her scream, I want to watch her writhe-_

That creature was gone.

No more whispers of hatred and doubt from it. No more hisses about Belle. About her smile, her potential lies, her love for a younger, more handsome and good man, no more. No belligerent abuses about his son and his failure, about his fear of the witch still lurking somewhere. None of that.

But what remained?

A hollowed out gourd of its vessel? A sick old man with nothing? A limping coward? Oh Belle wouldn’t want that, would she? How could she want something so pathetic?

Before the creature came into his body, he was good. Afraid and weak, but good. So unbearably weak. Limping little nothing who promised to protect his child and couldn’t. Frightened coward screamed at by his wife whom he loved with all of his being and each slap she gave him broke his fragile heart. Pathetic, ugly, unwanted, unloved creature.

Belle couldn’t possibly want that either.

Maybe, by some stroke of luck, he wouldn’t be either of them. Perhaps he’d be the man who could still smile, the man eager to fight and prove himself in the ogres war, the man… The man who, if he had fought, would be a hero. Like in Isaac’s new story.

 _“Rumple?”_  He could hear her...somewhere. Somewhere far away he couldn’t see.

“Belle?” He swallowed, his breath shaking.

_“Rumple, wake up. Please….”_

He looked around in the dark, trying to see, trying to find where her voice was coming from. “I’m trying, Belle!” He called back to her. “I’ll find you. I’ll...I’ll come back, I will.”

He hardly knew where to start, but he had to try.

~*~

Belle had gotten her husband out of that shop, home and in bed by herself.

If the heroes were so utterly wrapped up in themselves, in Emma’s now being cursed that they didn’t want to bother trying to help the one man who could help them understand this creature the most, then they didn’t deserve to know where he was.

She hadn’t stopped talking to him since he was left on the floor.

She was afraid that if she did he wouldn’t wake up at all. He’d be lost in his mind with his soft, quiet thump of a heartbeat, and she had to try something.

Strength, the Apprentice had said. He needed strength to wake up, and Rumple had always told her that she was his strength. Perhaps if she kept talking to him, if she reminded him of their love, let him hear her voice as much as possible then...then it would be enough.

“You know, when I first saw you, I felt so out of place with everyone else. I thought you were incredibly handsome. A bit weird,” she said softly, smiling, “but handsome.”

She’d put a protection spell around the house. A diluted form of the same potion Rumplestiltskin had given her when he left for Neverland, something she’d taught herself to make for situations just like this one. No one was getting in this house.

“My father thought I was mad to summon you. Some trolls -not the bridge ones these were rocks, isn’t that strange?- told me not to. That I should stay away from such a horrible man. And when I first met you, I thought they were right. I thought you were cruel, selfish, entirely unkind, but you weren’t. Not really.” She smoothed his hair back. “But you never have been, Rumple. No matter what you thought about yourself, the curse didn’t make you evil. I’ve never thought you were. Not once. Not ever.”

Days passed and they weren’t called on. Not a single person even tried to come and speak to them and she was both glad and disheartened for it. No one cared. Not one person cared about him but her.

She told him their story again, at least how she remembered it, how she had seen things, how slowly, every day, she grew more fond of him. Until one morning she saw his face and knew...she knew she loved him. For all his faults, for the warmth and tenderness that still rested in his heart, she loved him.

She told him of how it was memories of him that kept her sane in that tower. How she had never once revealed anything to anyone about him, about how she felt about him, how the curse was almost gone when she kissed him. She told him that every day she hoped the door would open and instead of the brute who touched her and made her beg for water being there, he would be. And he would whisk her away forever and they could try their happy ending once more.

“But you didn’t come,” she breathed, holding his hand. “I didn’t, really know why. Regina had told me that you knew I was there- I shouldn’t have believed her. I shouldn’t have been looking for hope that desperately. I should have known that you would never have let me suffer like that if you knew where I was.”

She kissed his hand. Barely, just _barely_ , she felt him squeeze. Her breath caught and she looked at him, searching his face for new signs of life. “Rumple?” But no. Just a phantom touch.

Belle cried.

~*~

Belle’s voice was music that led him through this horrible place. The shadows and black mist that constantly overwhelmed him were no match to the soft, accented voice that echoed through here. Distantly, above him, he could see stars again. They gleamed each time she spoke, sparkled when she laughed. Oh, his sweet Belle.

He was getting closer to her, listening to her stories about them. About how she felt about him about...about her time in the tower. Regina’s prison for her, the false hope she’d given her.

She’d wanted him to save her, wanted him to be the knight she needed instead of the bitter coward he became, the further he sank into darkness after she’d left and...and the plaguing misery he’d succumbed to thinking she was gone. How he cried. How he destroyed. And all the while Belle had been waiting for him.

“I’m so sorry, Belle,” he whispered, extending some part of him to reach out to her with as much force as he could muster. And she must have felt it.

She said his name again in that beautiful melody of her voice and- and it wasn’t enough.

As Belle wept, the skies above darkened and it started to rain. Light, soft drops that stung at the wrong angel and soaked completely. His sweet Belle…

“I’m coming,” he panted, exhausted from his excursion. “I’m coming, Belle, I promise.”

~*~

“Once upon a time, there was a spinner. A brave, valiant spinner who wanted nothing more than to prove himself, and the rest of the world, that he could be a hero. This spinner was well versed in the art of magics, and he was sure that he could use those skills to help turn the tide of the horrible war.

“The spinner was given his chance when he was called upon to fight, to help save the lands these monsters were destroying and the innocents being destroyed in these monsters’ wake. The battlefield was as horrible as anyone may think. Such blood and death, such horrific decay, but the spinner was brave. The spinner had courage in his heart and it proved to be enough to win each battle he was placed in. He earned a new title in his time at war, as well as a new name. The spinner was given a knighthood, and became known across the lands as The Light One.

“One battle was particularly horrible. The lands of a nearby lord were ravaged nearly beyond repair. Crops destroyed, subjects killed, and the Lady of the castle had been slain in an attack just months before. Hoping to avenge the death of this woman and exterminate the scourge that plagued the land, the now knight fought harder than he ever felt the need to before. He toppled countless Ogres entirely by himself, earning the name Ogre Slayer along with his others. However, a knight’s strength can only last him so long.

“A monster, foul and hideous, saw this man draped in golden armor, toppling his kin left and right as if it were effortless, and grew very angry. He charged the knight from behind and knocked him clean off of his horse. The knight’s head struck the ground, dizzying him, disorienting him, and as the beast raised its club, The Light One was sure his time being a hero was over.

“Just before the monster struck, a figure came from the morning fog and ran a sword clean through the creature’s heart, slaying it before it could get the best of the hero.

“The knight, startled that he’d been saved, stared at the warrior who now turned to him, and smiled. ‘Don’t worry, Ogre Slayer, I promise I won’t take your title from you.’ And startled all the more, the knight then realized who precisely had saved him. The lord’s daughter who absolutely refused to stay inside while a battle was fought on her own doorstep.

“‘Thank you for the courtesy,’ the knight had said, taking her hand when she offered it and stood. The woman noted how dazed he was, and for a brief second was sure it was from hitting his head, before she realized she hadn’t let go of his hand. She smiled up at him. ‘My name is Belle. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’ The knight beamed in return, not releasing her hand either. ‘Rumplestiltskin,’ he said with a bow. ‘At your service, my lady.’

“The two fought together until the war was theirs, the ogres back in their homeland to stay. But Belle didn’t want to go home, and Rumplestiltskin was in no rush to part from her either. Once the dust had settled on the war they had realized how they had fallen each other, and each look, each word spoken was dripping with love.

“After a brief conversation with Belle’s father, the two set off for their own adventures together. They battled monsters and curses, saved villages and found lost treasures and magical artifacts that Rumplestiltskin spent hours telling her about. They were passionately, completely in love, and paused their adventures for just one day to marry. They only stopped one more time, when Belle could no longer go with him, when she was with child.

“A healthy, beautiful boy was born, a house inhabited, happy and warm, and Rumplestiltskin vowed to protect the surrounding villages with all that he had, so long as he could return home before supper. And...and for a time, they lived happily ever after.”  

Belle sniffed, finishing the story, their story once more, their life they’d spent building together. There weren’t many people who got to fall in love with their husband all over again, but Belle had. And she was sure, had the Author written it differently, had Belle been the Dark One instead, had she been dubbed a villain rather than a hero, they would have loved each other still.

“I hope...I hope we can find that again, Rumple,” she whispered, smoothing his hair  again.

She paused, watching a tear slip down his cheek from a closed lid, and sobbed once herself. She curled up beside him, her face in his chest. “Come back,” she begged. “Please, come back, Rumple.”

~*~

“I’m trying!” He called. He’d reached the end, reached a door, or a wall, something...something that told him this was the end, where he could get out but he...he couldn’t. “Oh, Belle, I’m trying so hard.”

She cried, and it was raining again, thick, warm drops that felt more like real tears. Like heavy summer rain. And beating his fists against the wall, Rumplestiltskin cried with her.

Water, black as the rest of this place started to rise in a flood, still surrounded by the black fog, everything dark but the stars that glowed blue above. Belle’s eyes, her sweet, beautiful blue eyes.

“Let me out!” He bellowed, seeing the harsh white light coming from underneath. “Let me go to her! She needs me, please! Please…”

It was nice, at least, being in his head like this and there was nothing to strangle him and remind him how stupid saying that was, ridiculous that she would ever need him when there were so many other men that deserved her, that she would want besides him… That voice wasn’t here now. But he felt the echoes of those claws.

He slumped against the door, shaking. “Please. Please, I need her. I need you Belle… Belle…”

~*~

_“Belle.”_

It was the softest, quietest little whisper in the early morning light, but it was enough for Belle to snap awake and look at him. “Rumple? Rumple, can you hear me?”

~*~

“Yes!” He cried, covering his head. “Yes, Belle, I can hear you!” He looked up at the sky where her voice echoed like the most beautiful of thunders. “Please, Belle, please…”

~*~

Nothing.

He didn’t move, didn’t speak again. Belle searched his face, holding it in gentle palms.

“Rumple, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help you, I don’t know what else I can… I love you. I love you so much, please come back to me.”

She touched his graying curls, slid fingers along his stubbled jaw and thumbed his lips.

Belle waited for, for something, for anything to happen. He spoke, she heard him speak, she heard him say her name. She hadn’t imagined that, she hadn’t dreamed it, she heard him!

But nothing happened. Nothing changed. She sobbed once, tears slipping down her face and she shook her head. “Rumple…” Maybe she should...stop. Just stop and give up and wait until he was ready to wake.

~*~

Rumple looked up at the sky, listening to her broken, tired voice. She didn’t want to do this anymore. She didn’t want to fight, and he didn’t blame her.

It felt like he’d been there for centuries, weeks more likely, less than that more likely still. He cried, curled against the wall, hugging his knees while the flood waters lapped around him.

“Don’t leave me, Belle,” he whispered. “I can’t do this alone. I can’t...I can’t be here without you. Please…” He didn’t know what he would do if it all went quiet. What he could become here.

“I love you, Belle.”

~*~

Belle pressed her forehead against his, one hand on his heart, and she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not, but it felt stronger.

She sniffled. “I need you,” she whispered. “So, when...when you’re ready…” Belle hesitated,  waited just a moment longer, just looking at him to see if maybe...maybe she’d get a miracle.

Nothing.

Belle cried once and leaned in, kissing him tenderly, gently, on his cool lips.

The surge of light and hot, yearning love pulsed through her and the world around her in a bright shimmer, something she’d only ever heard about, something that only happened to her once before and it was so fleeting…

~*~

The door at Rumplestiltskin’s back opened.

~*~

“Belle?”

She grinned down at him, holding his face in her hands. “Rumple?”

He smiled back at her, reaching up and touching her cheek. “Hello, Belle.”

“Rumple!” She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his face over and over again, beaming as he giggled.

He was so tired, his body ached from the curse leaving him and his immobility and the weight of the girl above him was a little difficult but oh, he didn’t care. He greedily held onto her, to her warmth and kissed her back, grinning and laughing right along with her.

He didn’t know if he had magic or not. He didn’t know if he had a limp, if he was just a man or more than that, good or bad, he had no idea.

But he did know who he was. Not a spinner, not a sorcerer, not a knight, not a coward.

He was Rumplestiltskin. And he was her husband.

 


End file.
